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Inside The Rangers

20-Year-Old Texas Rangers Slugging Prospect Dominating Carolina League

It is always a great feeling for an organization to see that a player is thriving inside their farm system. The Rangers definitely have that going for them right now as one outfielder is dominating Single-A.
Maddy Dickens|
Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker greets Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona
Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker greets Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

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It sure is heartwarming to watch some of the young talent that is coming up through the minor leagues right now. These players are the future of baseball and are fighting for their debut in the majors, and one of the Texas Rangers' own is inching closer to his promotion out of Single-A.

Outfielder Deward Tovar is lighting up the Carolina League right now for the Hickory Crawdads, the Rangers' affiliate. Tovar's name is plastered across the top of the stat sheet amongst all players in the league.

*Note* The slash line rankings are looking at players with a minimum of 75 at-bats.

  • Home Runs: 2nd
  • RBI: 1st/2nd
  • .275 Batting Average: 5th/6th
  • .600 Slugging Percentage: 2nd
  • .363 On-Base Percentage: 5th
  • .963 OPS: 2nd

In the Crawdads' latest game, Tovar came through in a big way as the team fell behind early. He not only had a home run that went over the wall, but his speed was demonstrated when he had a rare inside-the-park bomb to complement a triple.

Get To Know Tovar

It isn't unheard of for a player to step into the world of professional baseball as early as Tovar, but it isn't necessarily all that common either. The Venezuelan started playing in the minors back in '23 before he had turned 16 years old.

Because of his age, Tovar stayed in the rookie league to further develop until the end of the '25 season, where he was then promoted to Single-A. With how he has started 2026, it isn't hard to believe that another step up is coming for him.

Since entering the minors in 2023, Tovar has played in over 150 games, where he has slashed .272/.375/.454 with an OPS of .829, and while normally players take time adjusting to tougher leagues, he is actually doing better with the new competition.

Tovar posted two seasons where his OPS was under .800: years one and two in the minors. Since then, he has been over .900 as he is really finding his confidence against better arms. The strength, power, and speed Tovar is showing are something that any organization would be excited about.

The Rangers picked up Tovar's contract in January of '23, and since then, he has been thriving. When his inevitable debut comes around, hopefully for the Rangers, they will know that their work in developing the young man was well worth the effort.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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